Nifty End For This Fish Story

The top prize in that star-studded fishing tourney hosted Monday by WGN`s Bill Cullerton went, with poetic justice, to the last boat to be sponsored.

And the winning fish came at the last possible moment to the most deserving person in the event.

Theresa Tarpey of River Grove, a Sears buyer who specializes in fishing tackle, hauled in a 12 1/4-pound rainbow trout as the gun was about to sound, giving Don McNeil`s Chicago Boosters the victory.

This was the last boat to raise the $10,000 entry for the American Cancer Society--a compilation of contributions from Cullerton`s pals, including Cullerton himself. Tarpey, whose husband died of cancer a year ago, tossed in $1,000 to board the boat.

``So this was kinda special,`` she said. ``The funny thing is, the boat we were riding is named `Jimbo,` and my husband`s name was Jim. So I like to think that I had some help from someone up there.``

-- You no longer need both Illinois and Indiana fishing licenses in Calumet Harbor, according to a long-overdue reciprocal agreement by the states. Either license will be acceptable in the area bounded by the 85th Street breakwater, including its southeasterly bend, then southwest to the tip of the Calumet Park pier. The area includes the Calumet River, but not the state line power plant, which is entirely in Indiana. The agreement gives Illinois boaters more room for fishing and Indiana anglers greater shoreline opportunities. In compensation, the Illinois Department of Conservation will stock 50,000 salmon or trout in Calumet Harbor indefinitely.

-- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to close portions of 10 states, including Illinois, to waterfowl hunting next year unless those states ban lead shot. Affected counties in Illinois are Henderson, Peoria, Fulton, Mason, Calhoun, Pike, Alexander, Jackson, Union and Williamson--in short, our best waterfowl hunting areas. The Illinois DOC is arguing that these areas do not meet state criteria for a lead-shot ban. Other states are Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Nevada, Oregon and California.

-- Elsewhere: Missouri will ban lead shot in nine more waterfowl hunting areas, bringing that state`s total to 17. . . . Minnesota is requiring a guide license for charter boat operators on Lake Superior--and the fee structure shows how petty competing states can be. Nonresidents must pay $100 for the licenses, except Wisconsinites. They pay $400, because that`s what Wisconsin charges nonresidents (mainly Minnesotans and Illinoisans). Ah, reciprocity.

-- A Friday ceremony in Michigan City, Ind., transferred the old Cargill grain elevator to the state of Indiana for demolition. The result will be an artificial fishing reef at the mouth of Trail Creek.